The Galbraith family marks a century in the area with a special gift to the expansion of Vernon Jubilee Hospital.
“Our family came to Vernon in 1910. I was born in the Vernon hospital and my children were born there,” said George Galbraith, a well-known local philanthropist.
“The hospital has been there for us through life and through death and I wanted to support this important project by challenging the doctors by matching their donations over five years.”
His challenge was to match the total contributions of the doctors up to $50,000 each year for five years to a total of $250,000.
This will mean a total of $500,000 going to the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation to purchase medical equipment for the new patient care tower.
The challenge, now in its third year, will help provide state-of-the-art equipment for the new surgical unit.
“This was a very exciting announcement that someone was willing to donate a large amount of money. It kept us motivated and focused. Everyone wants the new tower to be finished and to get in there,” said Dr. Ed Hardy, representing the VJH doctors.
The surgical floor in the expansion will be named for the Galbraith family while the doctors will name the ICU and cardiac unit in honour of Dr. Finlay Armanious and his son, the late Dr. Peter Armanious.
Current plans are for the new tower to be open by Sept. 26.
